How does one breathe new life into a retro-licious toy like Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots? In this day and age, it's a motion control setup from Zachery Shivers and Anne Flinchbaugh that they created for the TI Design Challenge.

The motion controls arrive thanks to a pair of accelerometer-sporting Chronos watches, one per wrist, that interact with some custom circuitry under the ring (not standard back in the 1970s). Physical punches translate into quick jabs inside the ring, with the goal still being "knock your opponent's head skyward for the win."

The campy video gets good after the brief "introductions":

Want to build your own motion-controlled Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots ring? Good news! This is a DIY project, with the instructions located in the Rock 'em Sock 'em source link that follows: [Rock 'em Sock 'em via MAKE via Engadget]